ADDI[C]TIVES

Stephen Barr

ADDI[C]TIVES !

!

!

!

for alto saxophone and piano

Composed for Sean Murphy and the Saxophone Commission Consortium on IndieGoGo.com

Stephen Barr

ADDI[C]TIVES !

!

!

!

for alto saxophone and piano

Composed for Sean Murphy and the Saxophone Commission Consortium on IndieGoGo.com

SHADOW & LIGHT MUSIC

ADDI[C]TIVES for alto saxophone and piano

Stephen Barr Print scores and PDF versions are currently available from the composer; email Stephen at music@stephenbarr.com for details.

VERSION 1.0 (2012) created 06/24/2012

If you perform this work, please send a copy of the program from each performance, with the title of this piece circled, to ASCAP: ATTN: Performance Credits ASCAP Concert Division ASCAP Building One Lincoln Plaza, New York, NY 10023 Version: 1.0 If you discover errors or have questions, please contact Stephen at music@stephenbarr.com.

Errata will be recorded and fixed in an updated version of the score. Š2012 Stephen Barr / Shadow and Light Music (ASCAP) All rights reserved.

About the Piece ADDI[C]TIVES was composed for saxophonist Sean Murphy and the contributors to the “Saxophone Commission Consortium” project on www.indiegogo.com. The project was launched in April 2011 as an experiment in “crowdsourcing” funds for performers to commission composers to write new works for their instruments. As a result of the campaign, over 30 funders, many of them saxophonists, contributed to the commissioning project.

Those funders who contributed $50 or more to the project, and thus receiving special mention, are: Beverly Antis James Barger Gordon Gest “kbsamuels” Matt Kobberstad Jeremy Justson “jorganaire” Mary Rautkis Mark Wallace A full list of contributors will be available on Stephen’s website at www.stephenbarr.com.

A special thanks goes out to all those who contributed to the creation of new music!

ADDI[C]TIVES plays out in three parts, following a fast-slow-fast sequence. The title is a bit of play on the words “additive” and “addictive.” The “additive” refers to the use of so-called additive (and often symmetrical) techniques and constructions in the choice of meters, lengths of phrases, permutations of sections and subsections, repetition of melodic bits, and the like throughout the work. For example, the meter signatures of the first two measures are 3/2 + 2/2, which equals 5 beats total, followed by the next set of three measures, 3/2 + 2/2 + 2/2 = 7 beats. The set after that then adds up to 12 beats, which is the sum of the previous two sets (5 + 7 = 12), and so on. The “addictive” simply refers to the rather slavish dependence on a few basic musical structures throughout the piece: the octatonic scale (this might be considered “additive” as well in its own right due to its symmetry), extended or “tall” chords, tuplet rhythms, certain melodic shapes, and insistent repetitions of single notes, figures, and riffs.

For those not so interested in the shop talk: Sean asked me for a piece that was fast and intense, which would also have a section where he could stretch out a bit and play very melodically and expressively. He also wanted to showcase playing in the altissimo register, the very highest part of the alto saxophone’s range (you’ll know it when you hear it!). For the most part, I stayed away from fancy and experimental-type saxophone techniques and instead focused on writing a strong melodic piece with lots of momentum in both the saxophone and piano parts. So, from that angle, ADDI[C]TIVES starts out kind of like a runaway train and gathers a good bit of steam before settling down into a slow middle section which is my take on “smooth jazz meets Claude Debussy,” with a moment of lyricism thrown in for good measure. After the saxophone plays a solo cadenza-like interlude, the locomotive fires back up again for a race to the finish. And the title? Forget the play on words business—the [C] just looks cool.

– Stephen Barr, June 2012

Composer Bio Stephen Barr is a conductor, composer, and orchestrator working in the greater Pittsburgh, PA area. Currently in his sixth year as Assistant Professor and Director of Choirs at Slippery Rock University, he teaches music theory, music technology, and orchestration, and conducts the University Concert Choir, Women’s Choir, and Chamber Singers ensembles. He is an active composer and arranger working in a variety of mediums, from modern art music for choirs, bands, orchestras, and chamber groups, to contemporary film score and music for media in orchestral and orchestralelectronic hybrid styles.

As a composer, Stephen’s concert music has been performed by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Florida Orchestra (Tampa, FL), American Academy of Conducting Orchestra and Aspen Contemporary Ensemble (Aspen Music Festival, CO), the Three Rivers Choral Society and the Slippery Rock Piano Trio (Pittsburgh, PA), as well as numerous college/ university choral and instrumental ensembles. He has also arranged and orchestrated works for the Sarasota Ballet and Sarasota Symphony as well as other organizations.

Stephen’s conducting experience includes a variety of choral and instrumental ensembles including large and small mixed choirs, chamber and full symphony orchestras, wind ensembles, and more. He has prepared and conducted masterworks by Bernstein, Fauré, Duruflé, Mozart, and others, and regular serves as an adjudicator, clinician, and guest conductor throughout Pennsylvania.

Stephen holds music degrees from Westminster College (BM), the University of South Florida (MM), and West Virginia University (DMA), where he was awarded a prestigious Swiger Doctoral Fellowship. His teachers in composition were John Beall, David Taddie, James Lewis, David Williams, and Douglas Starr, and his principal conducting teachers have included Kathleen Shannon, Don Wilcox, and William Wiedrich. He has been a resident at the Atlantic Center for the Arts and the Susan and Ford Schumann Film Scoring Program at the Aspen Music School and Festival in Aspen, CO, where he studied composition and film scoring with John Corigliano, Jack Smalley, and Jeff Rona. He has also studied conducting with eminent American choral conductor Robert Page.